How humans evolved to be twice as big as our ancestorsMon, 13 Jul 2026 17:00:03 +0000 Artistic representations of ancient humans often show large men with bulging muscles – but our ancestors were actually smaller than us, in both height and body mass. Columnist Michael Marshall reveals surprising details about the short kings of prehistory | |
Sugar molecules found in interstellar space for the first timeMon, 13 Jul 2026 15:00:54 +0000 Researchers have long suspected early life may have been helped by sugars brought to Earth by asteroids – now a sugar found in raspberries has been spotted in a cosmic cloud nearly 27 light years away | |
Alzheimer’s, stroke, depression: The preventative power of saunaMon, 13 Jul 2026 15:00:21 +0000 Sustained heat stress is bad for our health and can be deadly. But we’re discovering that heat therapies like sauna, when used in the right way, have surprisingly wide-reaching benefits for health | |
Shifts in the jet stream are behind Europe’s long heatwavesMon, 13 Jul 2026 13:00:09 +0000 Two types of jet stream patterns seem to be causing persistent heat domes over Europe, with big questions for the future | |
Game that reduces dementia risk may clear amyloid from men’s brainsMon, 13 Jul 2026 11:52:15 +0000 Playing a mental speed-training game seems to help the brain clear a protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease in men, but may work in women through different mechanisms | |
Four children with terminal brain cancer saved by new cell therapyMon, 13 Jul 2026 11:00:28 +0000 An experimental immunotherapy has beaten aggressive brain tumours in a handful of children, and a personalised version is now being tested on more patients | |
UN space database aimed at easing global tensions is mysteriously downFri, 10 Jul 2026 14:12:00 +0000 A list of global space launches designed to calm cold war tensions and promote transparency has been missing from the UN's website for months | |
Global warming already causing crop losses of over $20 billion a yearFri, 10 Jul 2026 14:00:51 +0000 Climate change is already having a big impact on crop yields, and the subsequent financial losses will continue to rise as the world keeps warming | |
Mathematicians put AI to work on Fermat’s last theoremFri, 10 Jul 2026 11:00:18 +0000 At an event in London, mathematicians have made unexpectedly fast progress on formalising Fermat's last theorem using AI | |
The sneaky maths trick for solving problems without answering themFri, 10 Jul 2026 08:00:57 +0000 How can you have a proof without proving anything? Mathematicians found a way and, in the process, came to blows over it – but 100 years on, this trick is a common part of modern maths, says columnist Jacob Aron | |